This invention relates to a circuit arrangement for supplying a discharge lamp, comprising a converter for generating a high-frequency current at a frequency f from a supply voltage, which converter comprises at least one switching element which is rendered alternately conducting and non-conducting at the frequency f while the discharge lamp is being supplied.
The invention also relates to a compact fluorescent lamp.
That circuit arrangement is known from EP 0323676 A1. Such a circuit arrangement is particularly suitable for supplying low-pressure mercury discharge lamps. The frequency f is often chosen to be of the order of 10 kHz in the case of low-pressure mercury discharge lamps. A major advantage of the high-frequency supply of such discharge lamps is, for example, the comparatively high luminous efficacy (lm/W).
A disadvantage of the high-frequency operation of low-pressure mercury discharge lamps, however, is that instabilities can arise in the discharge, which may give rise to the occurrence of, for example, striations or moding. The term "moding" is here understood to mean a low-frequency fluctuation of the luminous flux of the discharge lamp.